


rewrite the stars

by c_tristesse



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Future, F/M, Hurt / Comfort, Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:40:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28425636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/c_tristesse/pseuds/c_tristesse
Summary: Percy and Annabeth are once again asked to lead Olympus’s armies in battle, but they find themselves wondering what they’re really fighting for this time.written for the percabeth secret santa event
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 4
Kudos: 37
Collections: Percabeth Discord Secret Santa





	rewrite the stars

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO MY SECRET SANTA, MRS. O’LEARY FROM PERCABETH DISCORD ❤️ hope I did your prompt justice!
> 
> also to any readers wondering if i am alive / where next chapter of what belongs to the sea is: i promise ch5 is on the way, just got completely swamped for the holidays and with other fic challenges 😅 hopefully u enjoy this one!

The stars make Percy feel small tonight.

The night sky is usually a source of comfort, a home for familiar stories preserved in the constellations: he recognizes the shapes of family, friends, and the legacies that have molded him. They remind him of the people that he has lost, of course; he remembers Zoe and Bob and Damasen and the sadness of losing them, but within the grief he also remembers their presence. He can take heart in the fact that they never lost faith, even in their final moments, and holds on to their memories when he needs to keep fighting. 

But tonight is different. The stars offer no solace. Even at camp, the air is heavy and austere: there are no sounds of laughter drifting from the dining pavilion, no cheerful campfire songs echoing around the hills. Sitting at the base of Thalia’s pine, the stars twinkle silently from a million miles away. Hope, still trapped in her pythos somewhere, may as well be at the bottom of an abyss. 

Percy feels more alone than he has in a long, long time. 

The December wind is icy, biting at the bare skin of his arms without mercy. Sally would surely scold him for not wearing a jacket, Percy thinks numbly, despite the fact that he’s now 25 years old. Then again, what’s a small chill compared to the bloody violence of the war he is about to face?

He had come here to escape these thoughts, but the memories are too fresh to sit quietly. Just a few hours ago, he, Annabeth, and Clarisse had been leading a small group of half-bloods to Olympus for the winter solstice- it was a rare treat to walk hand-in-hand with his fianceé, pointing out the monuments she had designed all those years ago, laughing at the awe-struck expressions of young campers on their first tour of the gods’ realm. 

But everything had gone wrong as soon as they entered the throne room. Zeus, Athena, and Ares were standing in the center of the hall with an impossibly large battle map of magically projected before them. The other Olympians gripped their weapons tightly- even Apollo had traded his lyre and sunglasses for a bow and quiver. Percy glanced at his father and saw an angry tempest swirling in his eyes, devoid of all warmth. 

”Annabeth Chase. Perseus Jackson. Clarisse LaRue. Olympus is once again facing a threat that must be met in battle. Your services are required by this council and we hereby appoint you to lead our armies.”

Athena’s voice was an unforgiving echo amidst the marble walls, resonating in Percy’s bones. She looked at their small group critically as if expecting a response, but no one spoke. They were stunned into silence. The young campers’ eyes were wide with fear, many of them trembling from the display of power before them. Percy felt Annabeth squeeze his hand as she summoned the courage to speak. 

“Mother...how can you say this all of a sudden? The unrest in the East is nowhere near the point of-”

“Do not presume to speak, child!” Zeus’s voice was thunderous. “The decision has been made. You will do your duty to Olympus or face the consequences!” 

Percy felt a flare of resentment and almost opened his mouth to retort, but the King of Gods’ tone did not invite any further discussion. One of the younger campers whimpered and Percy instinctively stepped in front of the boy, shielding him from Zeus’s wrath. 

“Make your preparations. We launch our first strike at dawn.” Athena waved her hand in a clear dismissal and with that, they were transported to the rec room of the Big House, surrounded by yellow walls and head counselors gawking in various states of shock. 

“What just happened?” Harley’s worried voice was the first to break the silence. Percy remembers when that boy barely reached his knees- the Hephaestus counselor may be older now, but he’s still the same child in so many ways. What was there to say to this kid who had grown up believing things would be safe now? What words would explain that their parents had decided their lives were worth gambling as casualties of war? Percy can’t meet Harley’s eyes. He stares at the floor, unable to answer, remembering how much being a leader feels strikingly similar to being a coward. 

“Thought I’d find you here.” 

The sound of Annabeth’s voice brings Percy back to the present. She settles herself in the grass beside him, hugging her knees into her chest and leaning her head against his shoulder. Percy just closes his eyes. He can’t look at her right now, not when his shame and fear are still too fresh to be masked. She deserves a brave face and he doesn’t have one to offer. 

Annabeth hesitates at his silence. “Do you...want me to leave?” 

Percy shakes his head sharply, reaching over to wrap his arm around her shoulder. “No,” his voice is hoarse with emotion, “Please, don’t go. I just...I needed to think.”

She lets out a watery laugh. “You trying to take my job, Seaweed Brain?”

He tries to smile but his expression just looks pained. Her brows draw together at that - she reaches out a palm to cup his cheek, soft and tender. His free hand covers hers immediately, holding her warmth close against his face. He squeezes his eyes shut, trying to hold back the feelings that threaten to drown him just from seeing the worry in her eyes. 

He hears her shift, clothes rustling, and then his eyes fly open at the feel of her weight straddling him, knees bracketing either side of his hips. Her expression is fierce, both hands now framing his face, forcing him to meet her stormy gaze. 

“Tell me what’s on your mind?”

Her voice wobbles, a question rather than a command. She is trying hard to hold on to her tough façade but there is something undeniably vulnerable in her tone- it’s a rare display for Annabeth, even after all these years together, to let Percy know that she is breakable right now. 

He pulls her tight against him, hands desperately gripping the back of her shirt as he buries his nose in the crook of her neck. She sighs and settles more fully into his lap, thumbs lightly tracing his cheekbones. Their hearts beat together, filling the silence between their breaths. Percy aches with dread. 

“I can’t lose you, Annabeth.”

His response is a harsh whisper against her pulse. He feels her inhale sharply, hands moving to tangle themselves in his hair. 

“You won’t,” her response is so sure, so certain, “I promise.” 

Percy grips her shoulders, pulling himself away from her enough to make eye contact. “You don’t know that.” His voice cracks, betraying his fear. 

Annabeth can tell from the tense line of Percy’s shoulders and the haunted look in his eyes that he is thinking of Tartarus- the closest they had come to losing each other, the horrible aftermath of the arai. The memory is burned into both of them: her, blind and alone and screaming for Percy to stay with her; him, on the brink of death, trying to hold together the broken pieces of his body and mind. But, as their therapists had reminded them countless times, they had made it out. They were alive, against all odds, holding on to the promise that had gotten them through the fall. 

“As long as we’re together, Perce. It’s you and me. There’s nothing we can’t survive, right?”

“That’s the thing, Annabeth,” he says urgently, hands moving to clutch her collar, “I don’t want to just survive anymore, I want to live. With you. We have a life together and I don’t- I can’t...can’t risk that. Not for another gods-damned war. I won’t let them do this to us. Not again.” 

His voice chokes at the end, like he’s barely holding back panic. It hits Annabeth like a swift stab to the chest- and she knows what that feels like. She drapes her hands delicately around his wrists, wanting nothing more than to make him feel safe and loved in this moment.

“OK.”

He glances up at her soft reply. “OK?” he asks, confused. 

She kisses his forehead. “Yes, OK. Let’s run away.”

His brows furrow. “What are you saying? Where would we even go?” 

She presses her nose to his, eyes warm with an inside joke. “Alaska, obviously. Or somewhere even further north, where the gods can’t bother us. And we can have our life together.” He knows from her light tone that she is just spinning out a fantasy, but he smiles anyways. He wants to live in this daydream with her for as long as possible. 

“You hate the cold,” he points out.

She huffs out a breath against his lips. “Good thing I’d have you to keep me warm, then.”

“What would you do there?”

“I’m sure there’s a demand for architects up north. Ice could be my next great medium.”

He laughs, a real one. “Would you build us a castle? Like in Frozen?”

“Please. Elsa’s got nothing on me.”

He kisses her nose, overwhelmed with affection. “Of course not.”

“You’d have so much marine life to study up there. And there’d be so many opportunities for your conservation work.” Her fingers trail softly down his arms, leaving goosebumps in their wake. Percy takes a deep breath for the first time since leaving Olympus, a weight finally dissolving from his chest at her touch.

“I do love working with the whales,” Percy admits.

She hides a small smile against his cheek. “We could finally learn how to snowboard.”

Percy takes her hands in both of his, bringing her knuckles to his lips. “I’d take you to see the Aurora Borealis,” he says, quiet and serious. “We could get married right under the northern lights.”

Her eyes shine with joy and Percy is struck by how perfect she looks when she’s happy. “It would be beautiful with you,” comes her tender reply.

His thumb brushes the thin band around her ring finger, stirring happier memories from deep within him- their first real kiss beneath the canoe lake, her hand in his as they walked the paved streets of New Rome, the way she said ‘yes’ and tackled him into the sand when he proposed to her on the beaches of Montauk. Her presence reminds him what matters most, just as it has since they were 12 years old. She is his light in the dark, the feeling of her hand in his so bright a beacon that not even Nyx could extinguish it in her own domain. 

“It doesn’t matter where we are. You are my home and hearth, Annabeth. Always.”

A tear slips down her cheek at his words, a mixture of sorrow and adoration. He brushes it away with his thumb and wraps his other arm around her waist to pull her in close. 

She melts into his embrace. “And you’re mine. Not even the gods can change that,” she whispers against the shell of his ear.

He shudders against her, trying not to cry. Sorrow and relief and despair and hope tangle together, caught in his throat, unable to form themselves into words. He has never wanted to be a hero. He has only ever wanted to protect her, to stay by her side- whether that meant holding up the sky, falling into the pits of hell, or stepping up to bat in the face of certain doom.

They know what will happen come sunrise. There will be no escape to Alaska, no quiet moments found in each other’s company in the land beyond the gods. They will don their armor, march to war, and lead children to their deaths in battle as they have time and again. But tonight, they just hold each other close, tethering themselves to this moment where they are safe. They look to the heavens together and search the stars for a happier ending than the one they know they will get.


End file.
